Boynton Changes Wooden-building Fire Laws

BOYNTON BEACH -- An oversight by the city`s planning review process has led to a revision in fire protection requirements for wood-frame buildings constructed in the city.

The change came Tuesday night, after the City Council heard from attorney Alan Ciklin, representing developers of The Landings, a wood-frame condominium complex west of North Congress Avenue.

City officials allowed The Landings and a second wood-frame apartment complex, Mahogany Bay, to proceed well into construction before realizing a 1973 city code requires all wood-frame buildings more than one-story high to be equipped with automatic sprinkler systems.

Once the oversight was detected, the city asked the developers to go back and install sprinklers.

But the city`s requirement isn`t in accord with a standard building code governing all construction in the state, Ciklin argued Tuesday.

Ciklin told the council that when the state Legislature adopted the Southern Standard Building Code in 1982, it replaced former codes in all municipalities and unincorporated areas in Florida. It supersedes former building requirements unless the municipalities or counties adopt specific addendums to the code, Ciklin said.

The state law requires sprinklers on wood-frame buildings taller than three stories.

Because former building laws were repealed by the state action, the old city code probably isn`t enforceable, City Attorney Jim Vance said.

City building and fire officials agreed the state requirements are stringent enough. The city has increased water availability for firefighting and has more firefighters and fire stations than it did when the 1973 code was adopted, they wrote in memos on the subject.

``From a legal standpoint, from a practical standpoint and from an economic standpoint, the old section should be done away with,`` Ciklin said. ``The problem we`re facing is a real-life one. To retro-fit the buildings would cost somewhere between $300,000 and $500,000.``

City Council member Bob Ferrell said added cost for the sprinklers, which ultimately would be passed along to individual buyers, is an unnecessary expense.

``I`m sure that the extra $1,000 or $1,500 for each home could be spent on something else that is needed more,`` he said.

But Mayor Nick Cassandra and City Council member Carl Zimmerman stood by the city code, voting against its repeal.

The council relented, but not completely. A city addendum to the state building code will require sprinklers on all buildings over two stories high, members decided.